Notable News of the Week: July 26, 2013

Earlier this week, a mortgage broker announced that some lenders in Alberta were beginning to flag postal codes in flood-prone areas of southern Alberta. The reason: to demand that new appraisals and home inspections be performed, before any financing can get approved. And who will this largely affect? Sellers, of course. “A full appraisal will be required with the cost paid by the client,” explained Kim Bolger of Scotiabank. Mortgage broker Mike Boyle said it’s an extra step for homeowners but explained that insurers and lenders need to do their due diligence. “I don’t know of any better way to do it. I mean you have to kind of draw a line in the sand.” According to Scotiabank, deals for homes in the flood-prone areas approved before June 21st, 2013 are being reviewed by insurers to see if they want new appraisals or not.

Average home prices in Vancouver are, once again, on the rise, as gains in sales volumes were made in the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley areas last month. The average home price in Metro Vancouver went up by more than 8 per cent to $750,778, compared to June 2012. However, this price increase can be attributed to a large number of expensive homes being sold, which skews the average. As a result, realtors often look to the MLS composite benchmark price which, in Metro Vancouver, has increased by 2.3 per cent to $601,900 since January 2013. From January to June, Metro Vancouver sales figures rose by more than 6 per cent, according to the MLS. And while home prices in the Fraser Valley actually fell by 0.2 per cent to $486,657, sales rose by almost 7 per cent in that time.

A recent report by Environics Analytics has found that Canadian average household net worth topped $400,000 at the end of 2012 – a stat that was reached for the first time in history. One major reason for this increase is a 5.1 per cent gain in real estate values, which came with a 3.3 per cent rise in debt. On average, Canadian households are wealthier than Americans, but the gap is closing as U.S. household debt declines. In fact, while Canadian household debt rose by 3.3 per cent in 2012, U.S. household debt actually declined by 2.4 per cent. Last year’s rise in household debt was mostly due to new mortgages. While Regina households had the biggest jump in net worth last year, with Hamilton coming in second, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto continue to remain Canada’s wealthiest cities.

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A look at current mortgage interest rates and 5-year mortgage rate history.

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